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Trusting In The Lord Requires Faith"Trust in the Lord." The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace And Happiness; Elder Richard G. Scott You can't trust in the Lord without faith. Faith is required because we haven't seen God. You can't trust in someone or something that you don't know about or believe in. Faith is always centered on Jesus Christ. The basic definition of faith is to believe in something (Jesus Christ) that you have not seen. The most advanced definition of faith that I know of is having power, dominion and authority over all things. If you believe in Jesus Christ then your faith falls between one of those two ends. The basic way to increase faith is to learn more about Jesus Christ and how He did things and dealt with mankind in times past. He is unchangeable, so how He dealt with people in the past He will in similar manner in the future. The blessings and spiritual gifts the ancient prophets had in the scriptures, can be yours now. The scriptures also say He will try our faith by fire. He tries our faith to help build our trust in Him. A Latter Day Saint speaker once said that the Lord will take you places where only He can help you. I think there is no greater way to build faith in God than when you are in your extremity. When you are in your extremity and God delivers you, there can be no doubt or question that it was the Lord who delivered you and not yourself. The question is how to increase your trust in God. Increasing your faith and will automatically increase your trust. There are the Sunday School answers which are the basics of the gospel which are; reading your scriptures, prayer, attending church meetings, etc. The basics will help but not much if all you do is go through the motions. Doing the basics all depends on your attitude. If you are doing the basics without real intent, you will not be granted much power. President Eyring said that reading only a few verses a day will not be enough to receive spiritual gifts and talents. It comes down to attitude. It is possible to do the basics without hungering and thirsting after righteousness. The Lord wants us to be like Peter who had the faith to leave to the boat to walk on water to Christ. We know he sank while coming to Him. He would have walked on water with Christ back to the boat. Simply leaving the boat is an incredible act of faith. Doing the basics without a serious desire will not give you the trust in the Lord to leave the boat and walk on water. The basics might give you peace and contentment, but maybe not the power to truly trust in God. |